Secrets of the Dead - Amazon Warrior Women [DVD]

My wife and I met Jeannine Davis-Kimball a number of years ago and she spoke of this material and her excavations. In addition to finding real warrior priestess princesses, she has also discovered proto-Celts among the sites in the Russian steppes, complete with a finely-woven plaid that would look at home on any Scottish girl. The most amazing thing, though isn't the discovery of what were likely the Amazons of Greek legend, but the link to living descendants today in the remote regions of Mongolia. Her book, Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines is also worthwhile reading. Her meticulous details are easy to follow, even for the layman. Highly recommended if you love archeology and ancient societies.

At the time I watched this I was doing research for a fictional work. This DVD basically follows the travels and chronicles the research of Jeannine Davis-Kimball, an archaeologist, who is trying to find proof that the myth of the Amazons stemmed from an actual tribe of female warriors. Her finds are absolutely amazing!If you have any interest at all in the Amazons from Greek legend this DVD is at least worth a rent. I own it and have since watched it several times in a short while. I also recommend reading Dr. Davis-Kimball's book "Warrior Women An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines".Enjoy!

I like Secrets of the Dead in general but this episode I HAD to own. Its not available to buy on streaming services so I was happy to find it on DVD. Personally, I think PBS charges too much for single episodes of their shows. I was lucky, after months of searching, to find a copy for less than $20. This episode is very well done, as are other episodes. The research was thorough and extensive. It was really awesome to see the researchers find living descendants of the Amazon warrior women.

To start with, and to be fair, the "Secrets of the Dead - Amazon Warrior Women" is not uninteresting in and of itself. We do see how a young nomadic girl is linked genetically to a 2000 year old skeleton. Again, not an uninteresting bit of info.However, I expected the show to be specifically about Amazons; their culture, the debate between myth and reality, etc. What we see, in reality, is an archeologist's attempts at genetically linking modern day nomads with "ancient" nomads. These ancient nomads are not necessarily Amazons though they sparked, in theory, the "Amazon myth".Long story short, this PBS production is worth taking a look at if you are more interested in forensics and genetic research / testing than Amazons. Though, if you are like me and want to see a show dedicated specifically to Amazons then this may not be the production for you.*As a side note, I would recommend "The Real Eve". It does not have anything to do with Amazons but it explains the theory of the origins of humanity by way of one women and a specific genetic strain.*

Decades ago, in the song "Mountains," Prince sang, "Africa divided/ Conflict in the air/ It's enough to make you want to lose your mind." Poor Africa, my ancestors' homeland has/had it so tough. This battle stands out because it, and the Ethiopian victory over the Italians in 1940, are rare instances of Africans fighting off the colonists.There have been several video documentaries about this battle. I think Michael Caine may have been in a fictional film about it. Still, in the "Secrets of the Dead" series, science and exams are emphasized over human agency. This work spoke of the strength of British guns, Zulu military tactics, and that the Zulus may have taken some "candyman" substances. They never speak of the double-leveled moutain that the British said looked like a dog and the Africans said looked like a lion, although it's seen often here.The work is inclusive by having white interviewees and one Zulu member expert. One of the historians interviewed actually had a greatuncle killed in the fight. It is pointed out near the end that the victory was pyrrhic. The defeat brought more Brits to South Africa to be oppressive. The word apartheid never comes up, however.Most African Americans have West African ancestors. I'm thinking any Black folk that far south would have been taken to Brazil or somewhere. (Then again, Oprah may have Zulu ancestry.) So this is technically not "our people." Still, if you love hearing about African success stories, then it's important to know as much as possible about this 1879 conflict.

Even if the amazons described in this item are far from the ones of legends, that was to be expected - what is a legend if not an embellishment of reality?The documentary in itself is interesting, and the science exposed seems sound enough.There are some very good scenes, facts and explanations, that lead us to think skeletons of amazon warriors, and then their descendants nowadays, have been found.All in all, and although only one thesis about the amazons has been exposed, I quite enjoyed it, and I'm waiting to see what other discoveries will be made in the future concerning this subject - will they confirm this thesis or not?